Internal Dialogue

Busy Writer's Guides #7

by Marcy Kennedy

Internal dialogue is the voice inside our heads that we can’t ignore, even when we want to. We second-guess ourselves, pass judgment on the world around us, and are at our most emotionally vulnerable. And the same needs to be true for our characters.

Internal dialogue is one of the most powerful tools in a fiction writer’s arsenal. It’s an advantage we have over TV and movie script writers and playwrights. It’s also one of the least understood and most often mismanaged elements of the writing craft.

In Internal Dialogue: A Busy Writer’s Guide, you’ll learn…

- the difference between internal dialogue and narration,
- best practices for formatting internal dialogue,
- ways to use internal dialogue to advance your story,
- how to balance internal dialogue with external action,
- clues to help you decide whether you’re overusing or underusing internal dialogue,
- tips for dealing with questions in your internal dialogue,
- and much more!

Each book in the Busy Writer’s Guide series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don’t, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story, with an editor’s-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so that you have more time to write and to live your life.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

134 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2015

About the author

Marcy Kennedy is a science fiction and fantasy author who believes there's always hope. Sometimes you just have to dig a little harder to find it. In a world that can be dark and brutal and unfair, hope is one of our most powerful weapons.

She also writes award-winning mysteries under a pen name, but that's a secret. Shhhh...

Marcy lives in Ontario, Canada, with her former Marine husband, Boxer mix, eight cats (all rescues), and budgie. In her free time, she loves playing board games and going for bike rides.

Reviews

[Jami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many books for writers focus on big elements like plot and characters, but sometimes what makes those elements work or not are the techniques the author uses. And books with hands-on, detailed, break-it-down-to-the-nitty-gritty techniques are rare.

Even rarer are those books that do it well. This book is on that very short list. :)

I've read several of Marcy's Busy Writer's Guides books, and they're all great for those detailed techniques. However, the topic of this book--internal dialogue--is more unusual and yet so essential.

The techniques for how to properly use internal dialogue are critical for developing character arcs and motivations. This is advanced stuff that helps a writer go from technically proficient to a fantastic storyteller.

This is a must-read book for writers ready for more than the basics! :)

P.S. Yes, I know the author, and I'm so glad--because that's how I heard about this fantastic, must-have resource and bought a copy for myself. :)

[Thiago d'Evecque · Rating 5 out of 5]

O que é, como usar para avançar enredo e revelar personagem, como formatar e editar, como saber quando está em excesso ou em falta na história.

Essa série de livros da autora é fantástica. Recomendo também Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction e How to Write Dialogue.

[R.M. Watters · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had good points to consider when it comes to internal dialogue but as someone who writes primarily in first person, there was not much to work with. It was heavily focused on third person POV which got old fast.

[Toi Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was technically a re-read for me, but I realized that I never reviewed it the first time around, so here it goes.

I have not been let down by this author yet. Her practical guides are so helpful. As always, I appreciate the appendix and the wonderful examples. This has become a reliable reference book when delving deep into my characters.

Highly recommended to aspiring writers and published authors at any level seeking to hone their internal dialogue writing skills.

[Jordan Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know Marcy Kennedy, but I am an avid follower of her craft books. I don't want to think about how many craft books I've bought in the past that sit shamefully on my shelf unread. I cannot say that about any of her books. She truly knows her stuff.

[K.D Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve started with Grammar for Fiction Authors, and man, I can only say what an eye-opener. I thoroughly enjoyed it and then I recommended it and the next one that I had my eye on was Dialogue. I’ve purchased it a few weeks back and read every day a chapter until I finished.

Love every page. Marcy has a gift not to bore you to death with her writing books, and I have read a few.

It’s easy to read through. I love ‘the take it to the page’ section so that you can revise and you bet that I’m going to read all of them, soon.

The next one on my list is strong female characters. These books are definitely something you can read through more than just ones to keep your memory fresh in how to grammar properly and how to use dialogue that sounds real.

Thanks for writing these books. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

[Doug Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, brief and to-the-point lesson on how to use internal dialogue. Kennedy packs the book with a variety of examples (both good and bad) as well as detailed tips on how to revise your own work-in-progress for internal dialogue issues. This was my first "Busy Writer's Guide" but won't be my last.

[Shea Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book!

Another great addition to the Busy Writer’s Guide series! Read this to learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about writing internal dialogue.

[Pamela Harstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful

The information is organized and easy to understand. Exercises help one apply what you've learned as well. Good book for the price.

[Nancie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Great content with wonderful examples. I highly recommend.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Marcy Kennedy's books. They're short, for all of us busy writers, and are packed full of good info. I highly recommend this book for those wanting to improve their craft.

[Stupid Shiny Volvo Driver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful!! I tend to read authors who are "rule breakers" and I think that's WHY I like them so much, but when it comes to my own writing, every great tip is a blessing. This is not the first book on dialogue I've read, but I found suggestions in here that helped me solve a few problems I had with group settings in scenes and how to assign dialogue to whom and when. I also feel better about not including 'said' at the end/beginning of dialogue between two people. Listening to someone reading a story in audio and every line in a conversation between two characters ends with "she said"/"he said" is unbelievably annoying and now I feel as though I have permission NOT to use that one word as an identifier.

[Jim Wilbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I know I can be a bit wordy and can navel-gaze for twenty thousand words before a character gets out of their bed. I wanted to see what I could learn and if I could pick up any tips that would make my internal dialogue between the dialog and active narrative sharper and effective.
If you find that you have trouble with this, go for it.
The only thing I didn't agree with was Kennedy saying that inserting "he thought" or "she thought" is unnecessary in 3rd person limited stories. I still do it because I'm future proofing my work for audio narration. Without that, it can be confusing in certain cases.

[Heather Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Craft Book

I found this book to be one of most helpful guides to writing better fiction. Internal dialogue can be tricky. Marcy Kennedy is thorough in explaining the dos and don'ts of how to best utilize it. Not only does she systematically teach you to write great internal dialogue, but she clearly describes issues surrounding point of view and follows it all up with how to edit your manuscript as easily as possible. I will definitely be purchasing more Busy Writer's Guides in the future.

[L.A. Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do I bother buying these little books, when they tell me things I already know? I don't write a lot of internal dialogue, instead making the characters speak for themselves. If I do too much internal dialogue, I get stuck in their heads, and then the action is gone. Although this book does give good hints on how to change something from narration to internal dialogue, you may end up spending way too much time in someone's head.

[Ally Cabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great reference book!

This is a great, in-depth guide to how and when to effectively use internal dialogue. She also explains when there is too much or not enough internal dialogue. A link to a printable checklist is also available for download. A great reference during the editing phase!

[Joanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful and well done! lots of good examples.

[Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a to the point book with good tips on internal dialogue and also with helpful checklists for revision.